`At a time when black people were...

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

`At a time when black people were being clubbed into submission because of their race, it was her eloquence in her poetry that got so many African-Americans to look at their community, and to see their minds as something of great worth." -- Sterling Plumpp, professor at U of I- Chicago, on the passing Sunday of Gwendolyn Brooks, Illinois poet laureate, at 83, and calling her a `literary Joe Louis.'

MEXICAN PRESIDENT VINCENTE FOX, ON THE GREAT NUMBER OF MEXICANS LIVING ABROAD: `We see in the future a dream . . . that each of our children can stay at the side of his family, can stay here in Mexico, can grow and realize his dreams.'

Ali Abed Daoud Jaber, a Palestinian farmer, after Israeli soldiers clear-cut all 110 of his olive trees that had been used for cover by Palestinians.

`It's not a recount. We want a first count.'

Vice president Al Gore, speaking Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes."

`Ah, it looks beautiful.'

Space shuttle Endeavour spacewalker Carlos Noriega, as a solar wing on the International Space Station opened.

`We're not leaving anything behind tonight.'

Billy Corgan, lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins, during the band's final group performance Saturday at Metro.

`We'll play it out and play them hard. Obviously, we'd like to win all three of them.'

Bears coach Dick Jauron, on the three remaining games of the Bears 3-10 season. They lost to the Packers 28-6 on Sunday.

`88 percent more.'

How much more those with a bachelor's degree earn than those with only a high school education, according to the Chicago-based Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. A master's degree tacks on 30 percent more.

`He's playing that group like a maestro. Any lawyer who takes his attitude toward lightness will be making a mistake.'